Category: Court Opinions and Rulings
What Fayetteville Public Library v. Murray Means for Arkansas Libraries
On July 30, 2026, the Eighth Circuit issued its decision in Fayetteville Public Library v. Murray, a case that challenged two sections of Arkansas’s Act 372 that would makes it a crime to “furnish a harmful item” to a minor and require public libraries to adopt policies that allow people to challenge the “appropriateness” of materials available in county and municipal libraries.
PRH v. Robbins & Iowa Safe Schools v. Reynolds
On April 6, 2026, the Eighth Circuit issued its decision in Iowa Safe Schools v. Reynolds and in PRH v. Robbins, two cases challenging SF 496, an Iowa law that requires the removal of books containing “descriptions or visual depictions of a sex act” from public school libraries and that imposes penalties on educators who do not comply.
What now? Libraries after LITTLE V. LLANO COUNTY
In December 2025, the Supreme Court declined to review a Fifth Circuit Court case about whether the government can remove books from a public library’s shelves. This guide provides an overview of the case and explains what it says about the right to read in libraries.
What Mahmoud v. Taylor Means for Your Library
In June 2025, the Supreme Court decided Mahmoud v. Taylor, a case about whether parents have the right to opt their children out of storybooks read in a public school’s language arts curriculum. The decision only affirms a parent’s right to opt their child out of lessons in classrooms, not to decide what books their children will be able to find in the library. Even though this decision does not apply to materials in school libraries, some are using the Court’s decision to push their censorship agendas.
NY Commissioner of Education Upholds Decision to Retain Challenged Books in School Library
On April 25, the New York Commissioner of Education issued an opinion upholding the decision of the Clyde-Savannah Central School District Board of Education to retain five challenged books in […]